


before it fades

by kamunamis



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff, Introspection, Light Angst, M/M, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:07:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27030079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kamunamis/pseuds/kamunamis
Summary: suna reflects on losing nationals and falling in love with his best friend
Relationships: Miya Osamu/Suna Rintarou
Kudos: 40
Collections: SunaOsa Week 2020





	before it fades

**Author's Note:**

> day 5, confession
> 
> cw for neglecting parents!
> 
> thank you to tara for the beta read

Rintarou falls in love with Osamu after Inarizaki loses to Karasuno, thus ending the volleyball season for them. While they still have another year to go to Nationals, Rintarou had been looking forward to winning, or getting close to it anyway. He wanted to come home and brag to his father about how his hard work for volleyball had paid off. He’d bragged about how Inarizaki was a powerhouse school, that there’s a chance that they could win.

They lost after the second round, and Rintarou hasn’t stopped beating himself up over it.

Instead, he comes home to an empty, dark house looking exactly as he left it. Rintarou wonders if his father had been home at all during his time at Nationals, or if he’d been out on yet another business trip. 

He locks the door behind him and sinks down with his head on his knees, desperate not to cry. Rintarou wonders if he should even bother telling his father about what happened at Nationals. It would be like admitting he was right all along.

Sometime later there’s a flashing light on his phone, and Rintarou decides to peek at it. He’s expecting it to be Kita, or his father, or even Atsumu in the team group chat trying to cheer everyone up. 

No. It’s Osamu, sending a heartfelt message.

_ I noticed you looked especially down after the match,  _ Rintarou reads.  _ I’m not going to pry, but we’ll always get back at them next year. Hell, I’ll practice with you. _

That’s the first time that Rintarou falls in love with Osamu.

(Though, he’s not sure if it’s because he appreciates Osamu’s gesture, or if he’s just completely and utterly lonely.)

Rintarou texts him back, fighting the urge to ask him to come over. He wants to see him, even though they just sat next to each other on the long bus ride home. He and Osamu aren’t dating, but there are times where their hands brush against each other during lunch, or where they’ll lie on each other’s shoulders after a long match, or Osamu will share some of his creations with him.

How could he not fall in love with Osamu? He’s empathetic, reliable, and passionate. Osamu works hard, probably harder than everyone else on the team not including Kita. He studies hard, spending hours studying and practicing, wanting to prove that he’s capable just like his twin. Rintarou’s not sure Osamu still has a sleeping schedule.

But it’s not like Rintarou’s feelings are going to be reciprocated. Osamu is too busy for a relationship, and he only sees Rintarou as a friend. Rintarou doesn’t have much going for him. He’s one of the kids that stays in the background, avoiding any and all drama, getting decent grades, and breezing through life easily and with indifference.

(He knows he should stop being so…. self-deprecating. There are a few things going for him, like the inheritance he’ll get as soon as he becomes an adult, or that he runs warm and gives the best hugs according to Kita.)

Osamu texts Rintarou again and asks if he can call. Rintarou gives him an ‘ok,’ if only to hear his deep yet calming voice, and before he knows it, the whole screen is covered with ‘Samu is calling.’

“Hi,” Rintarou says quietly, but just loud enough for Osamu to hear him on the other line.

“Hey,” Osamu answers back. “Are you doing alright?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Rintarou sniffles. “I’ll be okay. I just wanted to hear your voice, that’s all.”

Osamu laughs. “Glad I could help. Yeah, ‘Tsumu will probably head out of the bathroom soon, so I don’t have much time.”

“That’s fine. Thanks for offering to call anyway. We’ll see each other tomorrow, right?”

“Of course. It’s always fun seeing you, Sunarin.”

Rintarou feels his chest tighten and his face grow warmer. He doesn’t know how the nickname started, but it sounds cute coming from Osamu. Everything sounds cute coming from Osamu, as cheesy as that is.

“I like seeing you too.”

Osamu doesn’t say anything else, leaving an awkward silence between them.

Rintarou takes a deep breath. “I should probably go soon, we still have morning practice tomorrow, right?” He laughs drily. “Wouldn’t want Kita-san to be mad if I show up late.”

“Yeah,” Osamu gulps. “Yeah, okay. Goodnight, Sunarin. See you tomorrow.”

The phone clicks and Rintarou is all alone once again. He begrudgingly gets up from the floor and heads to the bathroom to get ready for bed, where he splashes water on his face and takes a good look in the mirror before heading off to his room.

The moonlight is shining through his window with the breeze flowing in. Rintarou must’ve forgotten to close his window before he left for Nationals, but he can’t be bothered to sit up and close it now. His mind feels like an endless maze, jumping from one subject to the next, but he’s mainly thinking of Osamu as he tosses and turns through the night.

Rintarou doesn’t get much sleep that night. He shows up to practice the next morning, his eyes half-shut and yawning throughout their coach’s lecture. He nearly falls asleep on Atsumu’s shoulder, but Rintarou would be caught dead before he falls asleep at practice, on Atsumu’s shoulder of all places.

Osamu, the human embodiment of God, hands him a coffee afterward. Rintarou doesn’t even know if there are any coffee shops open at this ungodly hour.

(Why did he have to pick sports, of all things, with the early practice hours and extensive training? There are twenty other clubs at this school that he could’ve chosen, and yet he picked volleyball.)

“I knew you wouldn’t get much sleep last night,” Osamu says as Rintarou drinks the entire Venti sized coffee in one gulp, nearly burning his throat. He’s in awe of how Osamu remembers his coffee order. It’s a simple gesture, but meaningful all the same.

“Thanks,” Rintarou answers, tossing the cup to the nearest garbage can. “Means a lot.”

Osamu smiles slightly, and they walk together to their homeroom class.

Rintarou sits in the back while Osamu sits three rows ahead. He opens his notebook and pretends to get ready for the lesson, but instead, he ends up daydreaming and thinking about anything other than class.

He wonders what could’ve happened, if he blocked that pesky spike or if Atsumu’s set was just a little higher. The team would be high-spirited instead of moping about, Kita would be cheering all of them on, and Rintarou would playfully rib Atsumu.

Their teacher enters the classroom and hands out worksheets. Rintarou wants nothing more than to tear it to shreds. He spends the rest of the class period looking throughout the window or glancing at Osamu, who has the same blank look, only scribbling something down on his worksheet when the teacher is passing by. He knows that this means he’ll have more homework later that night, but he can’t be bothered.

The rest of the day passes by slowly. Rintarou can’t look any of his teammates in the eye when they meet up for lunch. He sits far enough that he’s separated from the team, but close enough that he can still hear everyone and chime in when Kita asks something. Osamu sits to his right, their legs pressed against each other and their fingers brushing every now and then.

Rintarou feels a tap on his shoulder and he turns around to see Osamu holding out an onigiri for him. He shakes his head. “That’s your food, keep it. You already got me the coffee earlier, I should pay you back for that.”

“Come on, I know you didn’t pack anything this morning either,” Osamu chides gently. “You need to eat too, y’know?”

Rintarou glares at him and huffs before grabbing the onigiri anyway. He knows better than to be stubborn. Osamu is pouting, and goddamn Rintarou is a pushover for him. It’s another reason to fall in love with him, no one else would go the extra mile just to make sure their best friend is fed.

Osamu goes the extra mile for everything in Rintarou’s life, come to think of it. Calling to make sure that he’s okay, perfecting his coffee order, texting him the answers whenever Rintarou’s too lazy to do the homework. That doesn’t even cover half of it. Osamu has always had his back ever since they met and became friends.

“Besides, I told you you don’t need to pay me back for any of that stuff.” 

“Thanks,” he mumbles, his mouth full. He doesn’t want Osamu to think that he’s taking him for granted. Rintarou finishes the onigiri in record time.

Osamu waves him off. “Don’t worry about it. I care about you.”

“You care about your friends,” Rintarou says idly, not really paying attention.

Osamu laughs drily. “Nah, just you. Why else would I pack extra onigiri for you and not for the rest of the team?”

Rintarou doesn’t answer him, but he does reach his hand just a little bit to intertwine his hand with Osamu’s. He lays his head down on Osamu’s chest, feeling the soft vibrations of Osamu’s humming. He yawns and Osamu uses his free hand to run his fingers through Rintarou’s hair.

“Oh, are you tired? Here, just - ” Osamu lets go of Rintarou’s hand for a bit. “Just lay down on my lap, I’ll wake you up when the lunch bell rings. There are still fifteen minutes left anyway.”

Rintarou yawns. Osamu continues running his hand through his hair. “We look like we’re disgustingly married,” he says sleepily.

“Like we aren’t already dating,” Osamu says with a scoff.

_ Dating.  _ Rintarou smiles softly before he drifts off.

So maybe they didn’t get very far in the Nationals tournament, and the past day-and-a-half has been nothing but gloomy, but that doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things - he’s dating Miya Osamu, and that makes up for it.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on [tumblr](https://irlsero.tumblr.com) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/downaslovers) but pls don't perceive me ;-;


End file.
